Metro Manila cops told: Coordinate with LGUs on new quarantine system
MANILA, Philippines — The chief of the Philippine National Police ordered police commanders in Metro Manila to assist in the information dissemination on the new guidelines on the quarantine alert level system in the National Capital Region where the new guidelines will be implemented starting September 16.
This comes after the national government on Monday night released guidelines on a new quarantine system that aim to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amid the continuous rise of cases in the past days. The alert level system was supposed to take effect last September 8, but the government's pandemic task force opted to defer its implementation as the guidelines for it were unfinished.
In a statement, Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said he also directed police chiefs to come up with strategic enforcement and deployment in their areas of responsibility in coordination with local government units.
“With the issuance of the guidelines of the quarantine alert level system, I have instructed our police commanders in Metro Manila to study carefully and continue to liaise with the LGUs for strategic deployment and enforcement for the proper implementation of this,” said Eleazar.
Under the new guidelines, alert level systems will cover entire cities or municipalities, which will manage and minimize the spread of infections.
Each city or municipality will be classified from Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 5, which will be determined by the Department of Health. Metro Manila is under Alert Level 4, which means that "case counts are high and/or increasing, with total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate at high utilization."
The granular lockdowns, on the other hand, are the critical zones that will be declared by the local government unit.
"Your PNP will actively participate in the enforcement and information dissemination of these guidelines, which also means that the police must also follow these guidelines," said Eleazar.
What the PNP wants to prevent, according to Eleazar, is the confusion in the implementation of the rules "which sometimes lead to unnecessary arguments and confrontations with the public."
The PNP chief reminded police officers to observe maximum tolerance and impose what is only stated on the guidelines, noting that violators should never be punished.
Eleazar also reiterated his appeal to the public to cooperate and follow the guidelines set by the government.
“We encourage our compatriots in Metro Manila to be aware of these policies because the commitment to following these guidelines is an effective weapon not only to protect yourself but also to the continued spread of COVID-19," Eleazar also said.
To date, health authorities have reported a total of 2,248,071 COVID-19 cases, 35,307 deaths and 2,032,471 recoveries
- Latest
- Trending
